French site claims Grand Theft Auto maker among the first to receive development kit for Nintendo's rumored new console.

What we heard: French tech site 01net has been wading deeply into the rumor mill surrounding Nintendo's possible new console, the Wii 2, which the publisher may or may not be announcing as part of the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June. Last week, the site reported that the console, codenamed Project Cafe, will take on the aspect of a tablet device, or "an iPad with buttons." However, the site's sources said that it would also be as powerful as the Xbox 360.

The site also named third-party outreach as one of Nintendo's major areas of emphasis, and the site reports today that it has lured one of the hottest developers around, Rockstar Games. According to 01net, Rockstar was among the first third-party developers to receive a software development kit for Project Cafe. The studio is reportedly gearing up to deliver a game "early" in the console's life cycle.

Rockstar may be bringing one of its hit franchises to Nintendo's next console.

The official story: Neither Rockstar nor Nintendo had responded to GameSpot's requests for comment as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus: As with 01net's previous report, the veracity of its most recent claims remains elusive. However, Nintendo has been clear that it hopes to regain the core gaming audience with its next console, and a surefire way to do that is to bring Rockstar on board.

I think (almost) every developer should get the kit. If the developer thinks they have something that will work well on the system and the take a shot, don't sit on the sidelines and then bash the system because its not "hardcore".

@lee1823
Its all very well trying to remain optomistic and feeding the ninty fans what they want to hear, but the reality is that nintendo lost the big third party support ever since the n64. They aren't coming back and without them ninty will never win back or tempt the core. Say what you like about what a few GS users say but i form my opinions based on statistics, research, gaming culture and the industry as a business and trust me, nintendo is not going to have any luck with the core in the near future. go ahead and disagree kids but reality is a bitter medicine.

Nintendo, the only way you can bring Rockstar on board is if you make your machine a monster... and no more white-colored consoles! Black is the way to go if you want to look powerful. And may I also suggest, speaking of power, that you revive your old motto... 'Now You're Playing With POWER!!'

like i said before i dont believe there will be any new consoles released until fall 2013 at the earliest and if that doesnt happen by then nintendo,sony and microsoft will be releasing info to hype up the next wave of consoles.this generation of consoles has been an exciting and different one compared to the past.this generation truly has had something for everybody period and has lasted longer than alot of people would have assumed.a new console being announced is always welcomed news but im happy with the current generation

@lee1823
That is two comments now that i have read from you on this page and twice i totally agree with you... I was a huge fan of nintendo consoles and although I was impressed at the time with the wii's ideas of motion sensor gaming I just wasn't sold on the idea of standing in the middle of the floor waving your arms around in order to play a game... If I wanted that then I would go outside with a football and kick it around! Out of all the last gen of consoles (PS2, xbox and gamecube). I rated the PS2 for the best selection of games, the xbox for its hard drive.. but overall I prefered the cube the most for game quality and reliability!
So I am like you on this, I would love to go back to Nintendo for a new non hand waving, next gen console, but a better version of the wii, no thanks on that! I don't blame Nintendo for coming up with the idea of it because if they didn't I bet they would now be only creating games, just like Sega and not an established console after the terrible fail of the gamecube's late arrival and severe lack of good games available to play on it? If Nintendo didn't make the wii then they were always going to struggle after that... imo.

I would be seriously disappointed if Nintendo only aspires to meet xbox 360 graphics with their new console. The Xbox 360 was released in late 2005! The company that manufactured the 360 graphics card, Radeon ATI, has evolved considerably since those old times.

Rockstar has, historically, not supported Nintendo platforms with the exception of DS Chinatown Wars and Bully on Wii. I guess something must be really attractive about the next Nintendo system to get Rockstar to change.

@kavadias1981
to be honest, looking at the comments on here..... yes.... many ps3 & 360 owners are willing to go back to nintendo. All of their other consoles screamed quality in the past and they dominated gaming during the 90's. They have also raked in enough cash from the casual crowd to be .... well... the richest hardware developer in the console scene... thats gotta hold some clout for their new plans.
Don't get me wrong.... my wii has been gathering dust for some time now.... the novelty has worn off with motion controls that arent 1:1, the motion plus is by and large unsupported in many releases..... and im sick of games like catz 3 or whatever......... it's just not precise enough and the console hasnt got the power to implement physics for it to work as it should.
so yeah... i think many hardcore gamers that remember when the snes was the best console you could buy, when gameboy dominated the handeheld market.. both with the best software support, will be interested.... but if it just looks like a wii with upgraded HD graphics then i'll wait it out to see what software support is looking like.

Lol look at some of you. Deluded into thinking that nintendo can actually win the core back from ms and sony. What can nintendo possibly offer the core that ms and sony cant do better? Mario? Pokemon? The core dont give a crap about that. The big developers know for a fact that the core audience is with ms and sony and will continue to focus priority content towards their consoles. Without the big developers launching high profile games on their consoles, nintendo will always be third place in terms of content. So sorry fellas but gta5 on wii2 is not going to happen. I can promise you that.

I have around 10 games for my Nintendo Wii. For my PS3 I have 14 games. For my PC (in the same generation) I have bought around 5 games. I didn't find the Nintendo gimmicky when I was playing truly great games, which I basically own, and I feel I have the same enjoyment out of all 3 systems. For me as a gaming enthusiast, I don't use the term hardcore gamer as that term is relative, I find this news interesting. I would love to see GTA on a Nintendo platform as the motion/touch screen could make for some interesting playability. To be honest, what I feel more pressing is that I'm not sure I'm ready for a new console. I still am happy with my current game list. The 3DS was too sudden, as I still have a game list for my DSi that I need to play. Even for my Wii I have a few games I want to play. Don't get me started on the PS3. If they announce a new system, I'm not sure I want to hear it. I don't even feel the true potential of that system is even close to being tapped.

can't wait for E3... i reckon this is dead cert
As for going back to hardcore gamers..... im with that all the way.
I loved the gamecube the most out of the big three back in the day... and im no loyalist... i enjoy all consoles... and the gamecube was ace. Whilst there are some great games for the wii... they are few and far between in my opinion.
Hopefully more of a gamecube 2 than a wii 2.

Let me guess, they are making Table Tennis 2 right? Rockstar developing for the next Nintendo console sounds great, but let's wait till we hear what game they are working on before we let our panties get wet, shall we?

Playing consoles now doesn't feel as good as it did even 1 year ago. they don't actually render in 1080p just put out at that res through upscaling so the visual quality of games is grainy or blurry to say the least. The wii being a ps 3 in terms of power and rendering is just not gonna work for me.

Oh and if Rockstar did release a game on this new Wii then it wouldn't sell. The fact is that you lot don't buy third party games on your Ninty consoles. Why would I say this? Check the sales figues and you will see why. Ninty fans only buy first party, non gamers only buy first party. Why the hell should developers bother with Ninty consoles?

I bought the wii to play with my little kids...but honestly ill never look at as anything more than a novelty gaming system for children...maybe they are going to attempt to change that with wii2. A good start would be to at least sell it with a classic controller with games that support such a playstyle. Tunnel visioning motion control would be a mistake considering MS and Sony are now on the bandwagon.

Nintendo will never win back a reasonable amount of the core audience. The simple fact is that they cannot and never will deliver the quality and support that Sony and Microsoft give us core gamers. Argue against that all you like but deep down we all know this to be the reality.

Them having a SDK may not be bogs but I still maintain the real idea that companies that failed to make money on the Wii are the ones who did not put any effort into marketing or serious game development design. Games like De Blob, No More Heroes, Raving Rabbids all did pretty well over the years on Wii. Capcom made a few bucks and quite a few indi developers made big buck on WiiWare. Even Guitar Hero and Rock Band made big bucks on Wii. All those games and many more like it had great game design specifically for the Wii and decent marketing for their titles. All the waggle games that were horrible but did well had decent marketing specifically for the Wii. I did not see any marketing push for games like Modern Warfare on the Wii which reviewed and played well on the Wii. People can say whatever they want about the Wii, especially the developers, but the fact remains that even to this day the Wii outsells globally all home gaming machines yearly still. That is 5 years and more than 86 million sold all to play Wii Sports and new Mario games and waggle games that get marketed like crazy. If Activision marketed Black Ops nearly as heavy on the Wii as they did for the 360 and PS3, you might have seen it sell more on the Wii.

@plaintomato
Vice City had more personality to it than San Andreas, sure San An was big, but the music and the 80's theme was nailed on the head in VC. It's still the peak of the series in my opinion.
I'm not saying the new one's aren't good, cus' they are, GTA is probvably one of my favourite franchises. But Vice City is still the best :)

Anyway, if Wii2 is BETTER than the current gen AND gets REAL GAMES, then I'm signed on too. If it's just something to catch up to current systems (that are already outdated) and the controls don't support "hardcore" gaming, count me out.

GTA IV bad? And people thumbed you up? I don't get it. San Andreas was awesome in scope and scale, but that didn't make GTA IV, where every part of the city was unique, "bad". GTA IV is in the running for best game of this console generation, its got competition sure, but it's in that group. And Vice City? VC was a great game, but the only reason San Andreas has even a possible claim to being better than GTA IV is because it was so huge with so much to do. Vice City doesn't have that, IV was simply better than VC.

Being able to play all the good 3rd party games plus Nintendo franchises would be the ultimate gaming machine. I didn't like the fact that the Wii didn't get alot of the great multiplat games that the PS3 and 360 got. If it did get them they were watered down pieces of junk. Hopefully Nintendo gets it right this time

@jhpeter you talking about the 85million who have no interest in graphics, standard controllers, "hardcore" games etc etc. This is why i personally dont believe all these rumours, nintendo have absolutly no need for a new console they're outselling ms and sony by a long shot (combined) by NOT going for the hardcore market and in fact catering to the market the competition didnt which is the casual. If they release a new console now they "could" alienate all those that bought the wii (which would be "mainly" parents, old people and kids) who dont care about graphics, or the power of the system or hd or 3d or whatever the hell else would be thrown into a modern console (if they did the kinect and move would be selling like hotcakes right now and they would be catching upto the wii in sales)